Hand operated sectioning machine



Sept. 16, 1969 P. o. CARY HAND OPERATED SECTIONING MACHINE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed E90. 5, 1966 r I i INVENTOR.

PAUL O. CARY PIG.

P. O. CARY HAND OPERATED SECTIONING MACHINE Sept, 16, 1969 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed E89 5 3,966

INVENTOR.

PAUL 0. CARY FIG. 7

United States Patent 3,467,075 HAND OPERATED SECTIONIN G MACHINE Paul 0.Cary, 423 E. Mayfield Drive, Grand Junction, Colo. 81501Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 380,172, July 3, 1964. Thisapplication Dec. 5, 1966, Ser. No. 599,260.

Int. Cl. B28d 1/04; B27b /34 U.S. Cl. 12513 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE The present invention is a continuation-in-part ofapplication Ser. No. 380,172, filed July 3, 1964, now U.S. Patent No.3,289,663 issued Dec. 6, 1966.

Such analysis specimens must possess certain physical characteristicswhich will render said specimens useful. They must be very thin,normally about .0012" thick, and must be in a plane as nearly parallelto the surface of the glass slide as possible. It is usually verydesirable that the surface of such specimens be as smooth as possibleand polishing is sometimes employed to obtain this feature.

The conventional way of producing such specimens, as heretoforepracticed, is to clamp the rock, boulder or lump from which the specimenis to be taken in a large slabbing saw well-known in the prior art andin wide use. A cut is taken through said rock to establish a flatsurface, then the rock is reclamped and a second cut taken in order toslab off a piece that is from to of an inch thick and that has tworoughly parallel faces. From said piece, a specimen is cut that willsuitably fit upon a glass slide.

The specimen is then placed upon a lapping plate and one side lapped toobtain a smooth, flat surface. Said lapped surface is then impregnatedwith a suitable bonding agent, such as a clear epoxy cement, and thenbonded to the glass slides so that the flat surface of the glass and thelapped surface of the specimen fit together as closely as possible in aplane.

The specimen, now mounted upon the slide, goes through subsequenttrimming, lapping and polishing operations in order to obtain thefinished specimen. Said subsequent operations, as heretofore practiced,have involved the use of a different machine or device for eachoperation, for instance, a small slabbing saw for trimming, a lapping orgrinding machine, and a polishing machine. Employing the means asheretofore practiced involves a great deal of operator time and skill asthe specimens are, for the most part, clamped, trimmed, fed, lapped orground, and polished by hand. Skill on the part of the operator is veryimportant because the operator must correct any errors induced in prioroperations.

Since specimens are usually worked through the above Patented Sept. 16,1969 mentioned operations by hand and through different machines, theheretofore practiced process does not lend itself very well whenproduction of said specimens is in large quantities. The making of suchspecimens has been ever increasing, due to the search for more andbetter materials.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide animproved device for producing thin section specimens on a large scaleproduction basis.

A second object of the invention is to provide a single device forsurfacing, trimming, grinding and polishing the thin section specimens.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device whereby aspecimen is accurately positioned on a chuck and securely held duringthe subsequent trimming, grinding and polishing operations.

Still another object of the invention is to proivde a device whereby thethickness of cut is easily and accurately adjusted.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a machine that isportable, clean operating, easy to maintain and safe to use.

In order to understand the invention, reference is directed to theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the invention with parts brokenaway;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view from the front of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a view in partial cross section of the vacuum chuck assemblytaken on line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a cross section of the spindle assembly taken along line 5-5of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a view in partial cross section taken along line =66 ofFIGURE 2 showing the lock screw arrangement; and

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic view of the invention showing the spraysystem and the protection shield.

With reference to the drawings, the supporting base 10 having arectangular configuration includes the side panels 12, 14 and 16, andcross members 18, 20, 22, 24 and 26. The coolant drain floor 28comprises the front portion of the base, whereas the control panel 30and adjacent mounting deck 35 form the rear portion of the base 10.These parts are preferably welded, but may be joined by any other means,including bolting. The flap door 32 pivotally mounted on the front ofcross member 18 allows easy access to the area beneath drain floor 28.Mounted on the deck 35 are the drive motor 36 and the quill assemblyindicated generally as 38.

Six rubber feet 34 are attached to the bottom edge of cross members 20,22 and 26 near each corner to provide support for the entire machinebase 10. The feet compensate for any unevenness of surface and resistslippage.

The quill assembly 38, as shown best in FIGURES 1, 2 and 5, comprises acylindrical quill housing 40 which is mounted to the deck 35 by themounting block 42. Within each end of the quill housing 40 are twosleeve bearings indicated as 43, and within the sleeve bearings 43 isfitted a tubular shaft 44. It is to be noted that tubular shaft 44 hasthe flange 46 which runs against the face of its bearing 43, while theother end of tubular shaft 44 has a graduated micrometer dial 48,described hereinafter, attached thereto, and said shaft 44 also runsagainst the face of sleeve bearing 43. Thus, it is clear that thetubular shaft 44 is free to rotate in its sleeve bearing 43 and is atthe same time retained against longitudinal movement.

The micrometer dial 48 is provided with internal threads 50 which engagethe external threads 52 on the quill 54. Quill 54 would be otherwise aslip fit inside tubular shaft 44 and the housing cap 56. Housing cap 56carries a key 58 which engages a key way 60 provided in quill 54. It iseasily seen that, when the micrometer dial 48 is turned, the threads 50engage the threads 52 on quill 54, thus imparting longitudinal movementto the quill 54. However, quill 54 is prevented from rotating by meansof key 58 and key way 60. It will also be noted that the micrometer dial48 is provided with numerous graduations 48a engraved around itscircumference which are easily set in relation to the witness mark 62,thus closely controlling longitudinal movement of quill 54.

Referring to FIGURES 2 and 5, lock screw 122 provides a means of lockingthe quill 54 once adjustment is established. As will be seen, the lockscrew 122 threads into the housing cap 56. However, between screw 122and quill 54 is a brass pad 124. It will be seen that the screw 122 canforce pad 124 against quill 54 with sufficient pressure to clamp quill54. The pad 124 prevents the marring of the surface of quill 54. v

The spindle 64, shown best in FIGURE 5, is rotatably journaled insidequill 54 and runs in the two ball bearings indicated as 66. The spindle64 has amounting flange 68 and threaded thrust collar 70, both acting toretain the spindle 64 longitudinally and to pre-load the bearings 66 inorder to eliminate spindle end shake. The thrust collar 70 is threadablyengaged with the spindle shaft 64 and provides a manner of adjusting theamount of bearing pre-load.

The mounting flange 68 provides a suitable surface for mounting acircular saw blade and other processing tools. The saw blade 84 isretained against the flange 68 by the clamp disc 86, washer 88 and screw90.

Extending from the spindle shaft 64 out of the quill 54 is the drive rod72 which possesses a square cross section. The square drive rod 72engages a square hole in pulley 74 which is rotatably journaled in ballbearing 76 so that pulley 74 is free to turn, but longitudinallyretained. Ball bearing 76 is mounted in housing 78 which is mounted ondeck 35. It is clear then that, since pulley 74 engages the Square driverod 72 with a square hole, a means is provided for pulley 74 to transmitrotary power to the spindle shaft 64 and at the same time allowing thespindle to be longitudinally moved in relation to the pulley 74. Thus,it is obvious that, by rotating the spindle shaft 64, the mountingflange is also rotated.

Drive motor 36 is provided with pulley 80 and a V-belt 82 between pulley74 and 80 to provide a transfer of power. A belt guard 83 is providedfor safety considerations.

An important and patentably distinct part of this invention is the crossslide assembly 85 which is mounted on the coolant drain floor 28 (seeFIGURES 1 and 2.). The cross slide assembly includes cross slide base 92which is mounted on the drain floor 28. At each end of base 92 arepositioned shaft mounting blocks 94 in which are mounted two parallelshafts 96. A cross slide plate 98 is mounted upon shafts 96 utilizingfour ball bushings 100 for linear movement. Thus, the slide plate 98 isable to slide along the length of shafts 96 under a very small amount ofapplied pressure.

Mounted upon the cross slide 98 is a chuck 102, the face of which isemployed to hold microscope slides upon which have been mounted rockspecimens. The preferred manner of holding the specimens on the chuckface is by vacuum; however, the invention is not limited to this andother prior art holding methods may also be used. Since vacuum is thepreferred manner of holding specimens on the chuck, it is supplied tothe chuck 102 by the tubing 104 and reaches the chucks face 102a bymeans of drilled ports 106 shown in FIGURE 4. It is seen that only tworecessed specimen holding areas 105 are shown in the drawing; however,it is apparent that more speciment holding areas could be added. It ispointed out that other processing equipment can be mounted on the crossslide other than the specimen holding chuck, such as a vise.

Referring mainly to FIGURES l and 2, it is noted that a handle 106 isprovided for hand feeding the cross slide 98 toward the blade 84 duringsawing operations. An auxiliary fine feeding lever 108 is also providedfor more closely controlled feeding of the cross slide 98. It includesthe lever block 110 which is pivotally mounted at its lower end to thecross slide base 92 by pivot screw 112 and spacer blocks 114 and 116.Pivot screw 112 threads into the cross slide base 92. The holes inspacers 114 and 116 and the lever block 110 are clearance holes. It isobvious, therefore, that the lever handle 108 can be moved in an arc.

Attached to the cross slide plate 98 is a feed block 118 on which ismounted a ball bearing 120. The ball bearing 120 engages a slot 110amilled in block 110. The width of slot 110a closely fits the diameter ofball bearing 120. It can be seen that, when the feed lever 108 isremoved in its arc, motion is transmitted from the lever block 110 tothe cross slide plate 98 by means of the slot 110a and ball bearing 120,the movement of the cross slide being parallel to the axis of shafts 96.

The apparatus of this invention also includes a spray coolant system,since spraying lengthens the life of the cutting mechanism byfacilitating its work. Spraying also enhances the finished product. Sucha spraying system would include a coolant tray 132 inside of which is apump 134. Both of these are easily removed or replaced by lifting flapdoor 32 and sliding tray 132 and pump 134 in or out of the apparatus.The pump 134 will deliver a water spray or other spray material to thecutting area through a hose 136 through deck 35 to valve 138 and thenceto spray nozzle 140 positioned at the said cutting area. The spraymaterial floods the processing area and drains down to the drain floor28. Since the drain floor 28 is slightly lower in elevation at the drainarea, spray material will run toward the drain opening 142 and drainthrough hose 143 to the tray 132. A hinged coolant shield 144 confinesthe spray material to the cutting area. The shield is constructedpreferably of a transparent material in order to allow ample viewing ofthe cutting operation.

The operation of the machine is as follows: In place of the vacuum chuck102, a vise (not illustrated) may be mounted on the cross slide 98, adiamond blade 84 is mounted on the machine spindle. With the machine setup thus, a rock can be clamped in the vise and sectioned by feeding itthrough the saw blade 84. In this case, the sawing handle 106 is used inorder to feed the rock quickly and so the operator can feel the cuttingpressure and resistance of the rock. The object of this operation is tosaw a first flat surface on the rock. As many rocks as necessary can berun through this first surface operation. The lock lever 122 istightened when cutting to prevent the spindle 64 from movinglongitudinally.

After all the rocks are sawed, the first surface is bonded to glassmicroscope slides. The vise is removed and the vacuum chuck 102 ismounted on the cross slide 98. The mounted rock is then gripped on thechucking face 102:: of the chuck 102 by means of vacuum. The excess rockcan now be sawed off by moving the cross slide 98 into the saw blade 84.All rock is cut off the microscope slide except for a paper thinsection. The amount of rock removed is controlled by adjusting themicrometer dial 48 until the correct amount is removed. Then the locklever 122 is tightened to retain the setting. All the slide mounted rockis trimmed as aforementioned, leaving a number of slide mountedspecimens. Saw blade 84 can now be removed from the machine spindle 64and a diamond grinding cup wheel can be mounted in its place.

Each mounted specimen that has been previously trimmed by the saw blade84 can now be rechucked and brought to finish by means of grinding.During the grinding operation, the feed lever 108 is utilized instead ofhandle 106, since it is important to have more closely controlledfeeding during grinding.

The grinding operation removes any irrgularities introduced by sawing,removes saw marks and brings the specimen to final thickness of 30microns (.0012").

During the grinding operation, the quill lock screw 122 is loosened andthe amount of material to be removed is controlled by adjusting themicrometer dial 48. In practice, the specimen is passed by the grindingwheel several times, each pass taking off a small amount of rock untilthe specimen is brought to finished thickness.

A spring 130 is provided to remove all backlash from the micrometeradjustment. Since the micrometer dial 48 is of large diameter with alarge number of graduations 48a around its circumference and, since thethreads 50 engaging the quill 54 are fine, very close control of theamount of quill 54 movement is established.

It is pointed out that the feed lever 108 can be easily removed from themachine during the first surface and trim sawing operations by removingthe pivot screw 112, and then easily replaced for the later grindingoperation.

Having thus described the several useful and novel features of theinstant invention, it will be apparent that the many worthwhileobjectives for which it was developed have been achieved. I realize thata certain changes and modifications in the invention may well occur tothose skilled in the art within the broad teaching hereof; hence, it ismy intention that the scope of protection afforded hereby shall belimited only insofar as said limitations are expressly set forth in theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A thin sectioning machine comprising:

a support base;

a rotatable cutting system mounted on said support base, said cuttingsystem having a spindle adaptable to rotational movement and a cuttermounted thereon at one end;

a micrometer means positioned on said cutting system and designed toaccurately adjust the said cutting system in a longitudinal direction;

a power means mounted on said support base adjacent said cutting systemand designed to transmit rotational power to said spindle;

a sliding cross slide plate mounted on said support base and designed tobe manually moved both toward and away from said rotating cuttingsystem;

a specimen holder removably mounted on said cross slide plate anddesigned to bring a specimen positioned thereon into contact with saidcutter when the said cross slide plate is moved toward said cuttingsystem.

2. The thin sectioning machine as defined in claim 1 wherein:

the said specimen holder has a plurality of suction positions on theface thereof; each suction position being connected to a series of ductswithin the said specimen holder; and

means to provide vacuum to said specimen holder and thence to saidsuction positions enabling a specimen to be held thereon.

3. The thin sectioning machine as defined in claim 1 wherein:

spray means are mounted adjacent the cutter to provide a cooling sprayon both the cutter and the specimen; and

a coolant shield means mounted over the cutting area to retain the saidspray therein.

4. A thin sectioning machine comprising:

a support base;

a quill positioned on said support base;

a spindle mounted for rotational movement inside said quill butrestrained against longitudinal movement;

a mounting flange positioned at one end of said spindle;

a cutter removably mounted on said mounting flange;

a micrometer threadably mounted on said quill designed to move the quillin an accurately measured longitudinal direction and simultaneouslyprevent rotational movement of said quill;

a power means mounted on said support base and adapted to transmitrotational power to said spindle;

a pair of spaced parallel shafts mounted on said support base positionedtransversely and adjacent to said spindle and said cutter;

a sliding cross plate slidably mounted on said spaced parallel shafts,said cross slide plate designed to manually slide along said parallelshafts both toward and away from said rotating cutter;

a specimen holder removably mounted on said cross slide plate anddesigned to bring a specimen positioned thereon into contact with saidrotatable cutter.

5. The thin sectioning machine as defined in claim 4 wherein:

the said specimen holder has a plurality of suction positions on theface thereof; each suction position being connected to a series of ductswithin the said specimen holder; and

means to provide vacuum to said specimen holder and hence to saidsuction positions enabling a specimen to be held thereon.

6. The thin sectioning machine as defined in claim 4 wherein:

spray means are mounted adjacent the cutter to provide a cooling sprayon both the cutter and the specimen; and

a coolant shield means mounted over the cutting area to retain the saidspray therein.

7. A thin sectioning machine comprising:

a support base;

a quill housing mounted on said support base;

a quill positioned inside said quill housing and adaptable forlongitudinal movement;

a spindle mounted for rotational movement inside said quill butrestrained against longitudinal movement;

a mounting flange positioned at one end of said spindle;

a cutter removably mounted on said mounting flange;

a micrometer threadably mounted on said quill designed to move the quillin an accurately measured longitudinal direction and simultaneouslyprevent rotational movement of said quill;

a power means mounted on said support base and adapted to transmitrotational power to said spindle;

a pair of spaced parallel shafts mounted on said support base positionedtranversely and adjacent to said spindle and said cutter;

a sliding cross slide plate slidably mounted on said spaced parallelshafts, said cross slide plate designed to manually slide along saidparallel shafts both toward and away from said rotating cutter;

a specimen holder removably mounted on said cross slide plate anddesigned to 'bring a specimen positioned thereon into contact with saidrotatable cutter.

8. The thin sectioning machine as defined in claim 7 wherein:

the said specimen holder has a plurality of suction positions on theface thereon; each suction position being connected to a series of ductswithin the said specimen holder; and

means to provide vacuum to said specimen holder and hence to saidsuction positions enabling a specimen to be held thereon.

9. The thin sectioning machine as defined in claim 7 wherein:

spray means are mounted adjacent the cutter to provide a cooling sprayon both the cutter and the specimen; and

a coolant shield means mounted over the cutting area to retain the saidspray therein. 10. The thin sectioning machine as defined in claim 7wherein:

an auxiliary feed lever engages and cooperates with said cross slideplate to provide fine manual feed control.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,322,644 11/1919 Steiner.

Lansing 125-14 Eyles et al. 12513 Tuorto 125-14 Konway 125-14 US. '01.X.R.

